Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo has revealed plans to invest $100 million in the Dangote group refinery.
Otedola made the disclosure during a visit to the refinery complex in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, on Wednesday alongside board members and top executives of First HoldCo Plc and its subsidiaries.
Speaking after touring the facility, Otedola praised Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote group describing him as one of Africa’s greatest industrialists.
He said the planned investment informed his decision to divest from Geregu Power Plc.
“I have been here with him about 25 times. My compensation is that he is going to allocate shares worth $100 million to me in the private placement. That is one of the reasons I sold my stake in Geregu power to invest in the Dangote Refinery IPO,” Otedola said.
He commended Dangote for his contributions to industrial growth across Africa, noting that he had accompanied him to several African countries for the commissioning of cement plants.
“I wish Alhaji Aliko Dangote well. He is a colossus, a genius, and probably one of the greatest men to come out of Africa for delivering Nigeria and Africa from economic slavery,” he added.
The proposed investment is expected to form part of the refinery’s planned $2 billion private placement ahead of its public offering.
Speaking at the event, Dangote said the refinery was targeting a September launch for its IPO following what he described as strong investor interest.
“Right now, when we say we are going to do private placement, we already have requests amounting to almost $2 billion. We are not selling after that, but we will see what can be allocated before the IPO,” Dangote stated.
He added that the public offering was designed to encourage wider public participation and ownership in the refinery.
Earlier in February, Otedola had expressed optimism that the naira could appreciate to below N1,000 against the dollar before the end of 2026, citing the refinery’s growing production capacity and its potential to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products.